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Rafale deal, BJP hits back

Bofors was Congress downhill, will Rafel deal unexplained shall be of BJP downturn? Defence deal of national importance need public explanation which can be utterted in few words but the saffron is adamant not to speak on the issue, so was Former PM Rajiv Gandhi and had to pay bitterly with charges leveled by Mr VP Singh former PM.

BJP has hit back at Congress’ allegations against the Rafale deal accusing Rahul Gandhi of misleading the Parliament and the nation. It said the UPA’s Defence Ministers had also termed the deal as confidential and accused Rahul of not doing his homework on foreign policy and security issues.

The Congress on Monday showed no signs of relenting despite being cornered in every way over its baseless allegations over the Rafale deal. During the discussion on the no confidence motion, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had quashed Rahul Gandhi’s allegations and PM Modi had clearly stated that the deal was transparent and clean.

In a press Confeerence on Monday the Congress stated that the govt had misled parliamentarians regarding the deal. The BJP retaliated with a press conference saying that Rahul Gandhi had misled the house regarding the deal.

Union Minister Ravishankar Prasad said that since the deal was confidential its details could not be shared. He said that Congress Chief had dragged the French govt too into the issue causing the latter to issue a rebuttal. He questioned how the Congress could make such statements when UPA Defence ministers AK Anthony and Pranab Mukherjee had both refused to divulge details of the deal in the house during their tenure.

It is to be noted that after Rahul Gandhi’s claims alleging discrepancies in the Rafale deal, France had issued a statement refuting his allegations and stressed on its confidentiality. Despite this the Congress continues to politicise such a confidential matter.

Meanwhile, the delivery of 36 Rafale aircrafts in a fly way condition along with associated equipment and weapons will commence from September next year, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman informs Parliament. Indian Air force will not have to wait for long for the Rafale. The political allegations notwithstanding, Centre has said that the Rafale deal is on track and the delivery of the advanced planes will start in September 2019.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has stated that the fighter jet deal with France will be completed by April 2022. Rafale will be the most modern fighter to augment the firepower capabilities of Indian Air Force and will prove to be a game changer and a force multiplier. Will her statement of Defense Minister can satisfy the Opposition parties?

Congress on Monday let it be known that it would move a breach of privilege motion against the Prime Minister and the Raksha Mantri for misleading the Lok Sabha on the Rafale deal.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Raksha Mantri Nirmala Sitharaman misled the House on the Rafale deal and held back information from Parliament, accused Congress on Monday. Party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala told the media that a privilege motion was likely to be moved in the House by the party.

During the debate on the no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha, Congress President Rahul Gandhi had accused the Government of paying too high a price for the Rafale jets and not taking Parliament into confidence. He had then posed three questions to the PM:

Did the Prime Minister seek and obtain the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Security before junking the Rafale deal signed in 2008 and inked a fresh deal in 2016 ?

Why did the PM unilaterally dropped the clause on technology transfer and deprived a public sector undertaking, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited of the opportunity to assemble the plane in India ?

Why did the Prime Minister ensured participation in the deal to a crony capitalist (Reliance Defence) who had no experience in the field and helped him with a potential windfall gain of ₹45,000 Crore ? Inputs: National herald india